Posts Tagged ‘Akio Toyoda’

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda faces pressure to cut costs even as the maker invests in new products.

Snagged by a strong yen, tepid sales and supplier problems, Toyota Motor Corp. delivered a weak profit for the latest quarter, the Japanese giant also warning that the current fiscal year could be its weakest in nearly half a decade.

Toyota, whose global sales slipped behind rival Volkswagen AG for the first half of this year, said it earned $5.1 billion for the April-June quarter, the first in its new fiscal year. That was a decline of 14.5%. Operating earnings, meanwhile, were off 15%, to $5.9 billion.

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Net revenues also declined 5.7%, to $60.9 billion, despite a modest 1% increase in global vehicle sales. The maker sold 2.53 million cars, trucks and crossovers for the quarter, but that number was short of expectations due to a series of natural and man-made disasters that impacted production in Toyota’s home market plants.

Lexus will reveal the new LC 500h at the Geneva Motor Show early next month.

When Lexus unveiled the new LC 500 coupe at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last month Toyota President Akio Toyoda said it was a preview of the brand’s future direction, with an emphasis on “passion and distinction.”

The new coupe’s 467-horsepower certainly fits that bill, but how about the Lexus LC 500h set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month? It likely wouldn’t if Lexus were simply offering up another mileage miser. But it’s hinting that this hybrid will be another matter entirely.

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In a teaser release, Lexus promises the new Multi State Hybrid System debuting in the LC 500h will deliver “enhanced driving pleasure, more performance, and greater efficiency” than the current gas-electric technology used by the Lexus line – which is little more than a glorified version of what Toyota offers in the Prius model.

Toyota managed to pull together a 5% jump in net profits for the third quarter of its fiscal year, despite a tepid global economy and relatively flat sales.

The automaker announced it made 627.9 billion yen, or $5.4 billion, during the October-December period, up from 600 billion yen the year before. Quarterly sales and revenues were up a more modest 2.4%, to $62.7 billion. A weak yen played in Toyota’s favor.

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The news came two days after rival General Motors reported record earnings of $9.7 billion – for the full fiscal year. Meanwhile, he world’s second-largest automaker, Volkswagen AG, said on Friday it would delay issuing its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings as it struggles to account for the impact of its ongoing diesel emissions cheating scandal.

The Toyota FCV Plus cconcept is the sort of futuristic vehicle that could make use of AI breakthroughs.

Toyota will invest $1 billion to set up a new U.S. artificial intelligence and robotics research center over the next five years, the maker announced in Tokyo on Friday.

The new Toyota Research Institute Inc. will have offices in both Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota and a grandson of the automaker’s founder. The facility will focus not only on ways to make driving safer but also on technology that can improve the lives of the elderly and disabled.

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A key target will be to “improve safety by continuously decreasing the likelihood that a car will be involved in an accident,” explained Dr. Gill Pratt, the CEO of the new venture. It also aims to “make driving accessible to everyone, regardless of ability,” while also applying technology “to indoor environments for the support of seniors.”

Julie Hamp joined Toyota in 2012 and was named head of global communications in April.

After 20 days in a Tokyo jail, former Toyota Motor Corp. global communications chief Julie Hamp was released by Japanese prosecutors Wednesday without being charged for allegedly importing the narcotic painkiller oxycodone without official permission.

While the 55-year-old New York native will not have to face trial – something that could have led to up to 10 years in prison – she was forced to resign from a position that made her not only one of the most prominent foreigners in the Japanese business world but the highest-ranking woman in a traditionally closed society.

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That has raised questions about whether her detention and well-publicized raids on three Toyota offices had anything to do with her gender and nationality. Clearly, from statements made by government officials, Hamp was held up as an example.

Former Toyota Motor Corp. PR chief Julie Hamp was - briefly - the most senior woman in the Japanese business world.

(This story has been updated to include mention of the U.S. ambassador to Japan’s involvement in the Hamp case.)

Japanese authorities are expected to release Julie Hamp, the 55-year-old American who until last week had served as Toyota Motor Co.’s global communications chief – and who had been the highest-ranking woman in the company.

The 55-year-old Hamp had been held in a Tokyo jail since June 18th when she was arrested for allegedly bringing the drug oxycodone into Japan illegally. Authorities subsequently raided three different Toyota offices, including its headquarters in Toyota City. While the maker’s President Akio Toyoda voiced his support for Hamp shortly after her arrest, the New York-born executive last week tendered her resignation.

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“The prosecutors appeared to have taken into consideration the fact that the 55-year-old American’s act was not malicious and that she has already resigned from the post at the Japanese automaker,” the Kyodo news service wrote on its English-language website, citing “investigative sources.”

The Lexus SC nameplate has gone through a number of major iterations over the years, from the original sporty coupe to a quirky hardtop convertible and, if new reports prove accurate, it’s about to change again, this time becoming the production version of the LF-LC supercar concept.

Expected to reach showrooms sometime late next year, the next-generation Lexus SC would also serve as a long-awaited replacement for the brand’s first, limited-volume halo car, the Lexus LFA. Some sources suggest the new model will be offered in several different versions, including one that would push somewhere north of 600 horsepower.

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The revival of the SC as a new, high-performance flagship would fit in with the mandate of Toyota Motor Co. President Akio Toyoda, who has commanded that there be more “passion” in the luxury brand. How much you’d have to pay is a question generating plenty of debate, with some guesstimating it will nudge into $150,000 territory.

Japanese Police today raided several Toyota offices, including its headquarters, following the arrest of the automaker’s top global public relations executive for drug law violations.

The company declined to comment on the latest action by authorities in the wake of Julie Hamp’s arrest on June 18th. She is suspected of importing the narcotic pain killer oxycodone into Japan in a package Hamp reportedly mailed to herself from the United States.

After initially being hired to run PR in the U.S. in 2012, Hamp was appointed global communications director this past March, moving to Japan where she has been living in a Tokyo hotel for several months. She is not only the highest-ranking woman at Toyota but also one of the few to reach that level in all of Japan.

Toyota's Akio Toyoda apologized during a press conference today for not providing arrested executive Julie Hamp with more help in her relocation to Japan.

If Toyota had done a better job in assisting its top communications executive with her relocation to Japan, she might have avoided arrest for violating the country’s laws on controlled substances, the maker’s CEO suggested today.

Julie Hamp, chief communications officer, was arrested after she attempted to mail herself 57 oxycodone pills. They were found by authorities in an envelope with other personal items, according to reports.

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During a press conference earlier today, Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized for the incident and confirmed the company’s belief that Hamp had no intent of breaking the law. (more…)